


Better when we're together

by OutOfThisTown



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutOfThisTown/pseuds/OutOfThisTown
Summary: After getting hurt during a mission, Natsu and Lucy spend time recovering together.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 170





	Better when we're together

Lucy was pulled away from restless sleep by a loud thumb. Peeling open her eyelids was a difficult thing to do, the dim light filtering through the closed curtains was enough to hurt her eyes and worsen her headache. She was very aware of all the pained spots on her body as she forced herself to turn over on the bed and look towards where Natsu was now laying on the floor. He was groaning and struggling to get back up. It was obvious that he too, was still feeling the fight from yesterday.

They’d gone on a mission to take down some monster that turned out to be a lot stronger than they thought. Defeating that thing had taken forever and they both got pretty banged up in the process. And like that wasn’t enough, Wendy had gone off on a mission with Carla and Happy, meaning that there was no magical quick fix.

“What are you doing?” Lucy mumbled. Even knowing that Natsu could be a bit dumb at times, she had still thought him bright enough to know not to get out of bed considering the extent of the damage he’d taken. They were currently holed up in Lucy’s apartment because Natsu refused to stay at the guild’s infirmary, claiming that it smelled too strongly of disinfectant for his sensitive nose. And since the celestial mage didn’t want to let her friend suffer alone at his remote cottage, they ended up going to her place.

“Bathroom,” he chocked out, before the leg he’d gotten under himself gave away and he collapsed back on the ground.

“You know you can’t stand, you dummy.” Lucy pushed the covers off her body slowly and dragged herself out of bed to help him. Natsu had gotten hit on the head hard enough to cause some inner ear problems, meaning that his sense of balance was severely affected. Not that her’s was any better, she remembered as soon as she put weight on her left leg and was reminded of the sprained ankle that had her joining the dragon slayer on the floor.

“Whose the dummy now? Porlyusica was pretty clear about you not putting any strain on your foot.” Natsu grinned at her, doing his best to distract her from the terrible sensation traveling up her whole leg.

“Shut up,” the blonde whimpered and closed her eyes, trying to find relief in the feeling of the cool floor under her cheek.

It was a miracle that he did as he was told -probably because he was in too much pain to do anything else. 

They lay there for a good while, listening to the sound of each others breathing and the occasional pained groan. And then Natsu remembered why he was on the floor in the first place and tried to resume his journey to the toilet. Watching him sway on his hands and knees, Lucy was tempted to let him figure it out on his own so that she could stay where she was, but she was far too emphatic to let him suffer alone. “Wait. I’ll help.”

It was truly a struggle to get them both standing, let alone managing the actual walking part. Lucy was limping and trying to guide Natsu while also stopping him from toppling over, and him trying to offer support to her one legged hobbling while feeling like the room was spinning around him. By the time they made it to the bathroom, Lucy couldn’t have cared less about maintaining modesty while they used the facilities. All she wanted was to get back into bed and sleep until nothing hurt anymore. 

The trip back wasn’t any easier and they ended up in a pile on the floor again. Only this time, they decided that crawling was the smart thing to do. It took a while and hurt like hell on their banged up bodies, but at least there was no more falling over.

Halfway through the room they had to stop to take a break. Lucy rolling on to her back to take the pressure off of her bruised ribs, and Natsu remaining on his stomach and complaining about the stab wound he had received on his back.

“You know there’d be no wound if you hadn’t jumped in front of me,” she wheezed out, wondering how her body was so out of breath after doing the bare minimum. 

Natsu snorted. “Yeah, right. Like I would’ve let you get skewered by that spike instead.” He said it like it was the most ridiculous idea and Lucy found herself a little offended.

“I can take a hit! You don’t always have to act like a human shield for me.” And he really shouldn’t. No matter how thought of a dragon slayer he was, with the amount of hits Natsu was taking, his body was bound to start breaking under the strain sooner or later. 

He turned it head so he could give her one of those super serious looks that were so rarely seen on his face. “I know you can handle yourself, if that’s what you’re getting at, but I’m never gonna let you get hurt if I can stop it.”

“I don’t like seeing you get hurt any more than you like it when I’m hurt. It’s even worse when you’re injured trying to keep me safe!” Lucy had to close her eyes and take a few seconds to calm down. Yelling was not doing any favors to their headaches. 

“Luce.” She peeked open her eyes when she heard his pleading tone. “I know you don’t like it, but I’m never going to stop trying to protect you.”

Was she having a heart attack on top of everything else or was the organ skipping beats just for fun? 

Groaning, she rested her forehead on the floor in defeat. Far too tired and pained, she decided that arguing about this topic could wait until they were in better shape. “Let’s just get to that damn bed already.”

It was far easier said than done, but once she managed to pull herself on to the bed, nothing could have felt better. Lucy had just relaxed back into the softness of the mattress when Natsu’s voice jolted her back. “Wait! The thing.”

“What thing?” She glanced over at her partner who was sitting on the edge of the bed and looking around in distress. Had he gotten some form brain damage as well?

“The thing were supposed to put on our injuries!”

“Oh, that.” Less than happy about it, Lucy reached over to pat at the windowsill until her hand landed on the jar there. It contained some foul smelling herb paste that was supposed to help, but thinking about sitting up in order to poke her bruises with it was not making her feel better. She threw the jar in his general direction carelessly. “You can do what you want. I think I’m fine without torturing myself with that.”

She heard the sound of the lid opening and could instantly smell the sharp scent of the medicine. Had she bothered to look, she could have prepared for the highly uncomfortable feeling of Natsu smearing the paste on the cut on her arm. She yelped and sat up, glaring at him.

“What the hell, Natsu!?”

“Porlyusica said that it would help you heal, so you have to use it.” She flinched back when he moved to add more of the cream on her wounds.

“Nu-uh. I told you, I’m fine. That stuff stings and I just want to go back to sleep,” she whined and pushed his arm away.

Natsu looked serious again. “You’re always yelling at me for being a bad patient to Wendy, so don’t start being hypocritical now.”

She blinked at him a few times, before snorting. “Since when have you known words like ‘hypocritical’?”

Instantly the seriousness was gone and he was smiling at her. “Obviously I’ve learned from hanging out with you all the time, duh.”

Amused, Lucy shook her head and extended her arm to him. She hated to admit it but he was right on this one. It wasn’t so terribly bad when Natsu applied the paste. Unlike Porlyusica, he was careful not to press too hard, and thanks to his very warm hands, the medicine lost it’s coldness and actually felt kinda nice on her skin. She remained seated in front of him, only wearing her underwear and a top, while he moved from injury to injury, making sure not to miss a single spot. She wasn’t even embarrassed given how tired and in pain she was. Though she did muster up enough energy to return the favor and spread the tincture over his wounds. Had she been in her right mind, she knew she would have been blushing like crazy while running her fingers over his well muscled form that was sitting in front of her in only his boxers.

When she was done, Lucy closed the lid and set the jar back to it’s previous spot. “All done. Can we go to sleep now?”

By the time she turned back to look at him, he was already laying down, eyes closed and body relaxed. She rolled her eyes at him before following his example.

“Thanks for letting me stay here.” She heard him murmur, both of them already half asleep.

“If I said you couldn’t, you would’ve just broken in and ended up hurting yourself worse.”

“True.”

She felt Natsu moving closer and slipping an arm around her waist as he nuzzled her hair and breathed in deeply. Probably to get the stench of the medicine out of his nose, she assumed.

Neither of them could say that they slept all that well given their level of hurt, and one would always end up waking the other with their tossing and turning and groaning, but they were just a little more restful knowing that the other was safe and sound next to them.


End file.
